The Twelve Days of Christmas
by anicastar
Summary: A series of twelve short stories containing the humorous exploit of the last Quincy and his ever cheerful princess. Will this Christmas season bring them closer together?
1. A Partridge in a Pear Tree

This is the first of a series of drabbles/short stories I am doing for Christmas. Each one will be based on a line from the classic song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (obviously) and they will all feature one of my favorite couples from Bleach, Ishihime. This is also coincidentally the first anything I have ever submitted to . I hope you like it! :)

* * *

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Uryu Ishida hurried along the winding path that leads through the park near his house. He hugged himself tightly to keep out the late autumn chill.

As he passed underneath a large evergreen tree, a soft melodic sound reached his ears. He paused for a moment to decipher origin of the faint

music. He glanced up to discover that the sound came from a large arboreal octopus directly above him. On closer inspection he noticed that it only

had four limbs and was, in fact, Orihime in a large hot pink winter coat. "Good Afternoon Inoue-san," he called up to her, "You almost gave me a

heart attack. What are you doing up there?" She looked down at him and smiled, "Oh! Ishida-kun! Hi! I was just thinking about Christmas. I love

Christmas! I was trying to remember the words to all my favorite Christmas carols. Me and Tatsuki always go caroling together. Do you like to sing

Ishida-kun?" He took a moment to process her fast paced babble and then answered, "First of all, it's Tatsuki and I, not me and Tatsuki. And no, I

don't sing. Isn't it a bit early to be thinking about Christmas? November isn't even over." "It's never too early for Christmas!" His gaze drifted back

down to the leaf scattered ground as he let out a quiet sigh. Orihime always seemed to be excited about something or other. Her bubbly

cheerfulness was one of the things he liked most about her. It overflowed and lifted the spirits of everyone around her. "Inoue-san what song

were you humming just now?" Her smile seemed to fill her whole face as she answered, "Couldn't you tell? It was the Twelve Days of Christmas! I

love that one but I always get the lords and ladies confused. The best part is the FIVE GOLDEN RINGSSSS!" She spread her arms wide in the style

of the opera greats, but in her coat she looked more like a pink snowman. Though this pose may have fit the line, it most certainly did not suit her

locale. Her arms overbalanced her and she tumbled off her perch. Uryu saw her begin to fall and lunged forward to catch her. This might have been

cool and romantic if not for the fact that Orihime's coat made her resemble a large pink marshmallow. They both apologized profusely as they

untangled themselves from their jumble of limbs and scarves. After several minutes, they freed each other and separated. They both sat up at the

same time causing their heads to collide midway. "Sorry." they said in unison Orihime began to stand up but felt herself being yanked backwards.

She assumed her scarf must have caught on something. As she turned to unhook it from whatever it was snagged on, her hands bumped in to

Uryu's. Surprised she looked down and saw what their hands were encircling. "Look Ishida-kun! Our scarves are tied together!" Indeed they were.

Somehow amidst the flailing their scarves had tied themselves in a perfect knot. Orihime pondered this for a moment, while Uryu fought with all his

might to keep from blushing. Finally Orihime broke the awkward silence. "It's destiny! This must mean something! Don't you think so Ishida-kun?"

Uryu lost his fight.  


* * *

Please tell me if you like it or not! The next one should be up soon.


	2. Two Turtledoves

Two Turtle-doves

Embroidery help

Orihime glared down at the object of all her frustrations.

"If you didn't start cooperating real fast you would wish you had never been born." she growled under her breath.

Uryu, on the other side of the room, sensed a great and terrible power emanating from the corner. He turned around, prepared for an evil hollow or something of the like. What he saw was instead Orihime having a very intense staring contest with her embroidery. He walked over to see what could make Orihime look that scary.

"Inoue-san, is something wrong?" he asked, concerned. He had never seen her in such a state.

She looked up from trying to burn a hole through the small piece of fabric in front of her. Her face changed from one of absolute loathing to an adorable pout. Its shear cuteness almost made Uryu lose his cool.

"I can't make the stupid french knots!" she grumbled like a angry child.

"Oh, those are hard. I had trouble with them too. Would you like me to do them for you?" he offered. Her frown turned into a bright smile.

"Oh, will you? That would be so much help! I don't think I will ever be able to do them right!" she gushed, happy to be relived of her burden.

"I'm glad to help." he said as he took the embroidery hoop out of her hands. On it was a half finished design of two doves in side a wreath of holly. Each little holly berry was supposed to be a french knot. As his skilled hands set to work, Orihime began to babble on. He was concentrating hard on the knots so he wasn't really paying attention to her. When his attention did finally shift back in her direction, her one-sided conversation had taken a one way trip to Crazyland.

"..and then Tatsuki's face exploded and turned into gummy bears. and i had to try to stop Kon from eating them but Hitsugaya-kun kept freezing my feet to the ground." Uryu was momentarily stunned.

"Wait, what?" He was now completely confused. Nothing about the previous sentence had made any sense whatsoever.

"Weren't you listening Ishida-kun? I was talking about the dream I had last night." she explained like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Oh sorry, I guess I wasn't. It sounds like it was a very strange dream."

"No, not compared to my usual dreams. They're a lot crazier." She had the most nonchalant look on her face, as if dreams like that were normal. Uryu certainly had never had dreams as crazy as those.

"Anyway, here I finished the french knots for you." Uryu said as he handed back her embroidery. "Are you making it for someone special?"

"Yes, someone very special!" she said. She looked down at the now closer to being finished design and smiled. This smile wasn't her usual smile, the one that looked too big for her face, it was a soft, gentle smile. It was the smile of a girl in love.

'Oh, it's for Ichigo. That idiot doesn't know how lucky he is to have someone like Inoue-san.' Uryu thought sadly. He stood and turned to go back to his seat on the other side of the room.

"Oh, hey, wait Ishida-kun!" He stopped and looked down at her and saw that her normal face-breaking smile had returned. "Thank you!"

Uryu really needed to stop blushing like that of his reputation as the cool, stoic guy would be gone for sure.


	3. Three French Hens

Sorry this chapter is so late. I don't have a good excuse. I'm just lazy. This one and the next few are going to be tied together into a story. And to make up for the wait you get two chapters today. Yay! Hope you like it!

* * *

Three French Hens

Uryu Ishida hummed softly as he prepared his dinner. Normally Uryu wouldn't be caught dead humming but his dad was gone and wouldn't be back till tomorrow. So he was humming as he enjoyed the empty house. Unfortunately, his humming was interrupted when he heard a knock at the door. After checking to see that his stir fry was simmering gently, he went to see who could possibly be at the door. He opened it to reveal a slightly sooty Orihime with her every-present smile on her face.

"Hi Ishida-kun!" she said excitedly. Uryu, as he usually was when it came to Orihime, was very confused.

"Um, hi Inoue-san. Not to be rude, but what are you doing here and why are you covered in soot? Was it a hollow?" he asked.

"No, don't worry, I wasn't attacked. I sorta had a little accident while I was cooking, kinda." Her answers calmed him down but did nothing to ease his confusion.

"What on earth happened?" He didn't think it was possible to get that dirty from just cooking, but this was Orihime so anything was possible.

"Well, I was experimenting by cooking chicken three different ways and it kinda caught on fire three different ways." she said sheepishly.

"Oh my god! Is your apartment ok? Is it still on fire?" Uryu asked frantically. She shook her head.

"No, I put it out myself." she said, giving him a thumbs up. He sighed in relief. Then he remembered that his first question had not been answered.

"So, what do you need my help for Inoue-san?"

"Well my apartment didn't burn but my dinner did. I was going to go out to eat but I couldn't find my wallet. Then I remembered that you live close to me, so I thought I'd ask if I could have dinner with you. Can I Ishida-kun, please?" she looked at him with big, pleading, hungry eyes. How could he possibly say no?


	4. Four Calling Birds

Here is your second update for today. Remember this is a continuation of Three French Hens. Enjoy! :)

* * *

Four Calling Birds

As she washed the ash off her self, Uryu finished up the stir fry Dinner with Orihime was a friendly, talkative affair. He enjoyed chatting with her as they ate. He was not used to conversation at the dinner table. Dinner in the Ishida household was silent. In fact, it had been some time since there had even been another person sitting with him. It was nice to have someone ask about his day and actually care. After they finished eating Orihime insisted on helping him with the dishes. Uryu flatly refused.

"No, you're a guest. It would be impolite to make you work."

"But I want to! I imposed on you and ruined your quiet evening. I want to make it up to you. Please!" as she said this she once more unleashed her deadly puppy dog eyes. There was no way for Uryu to argue with that face. She tried her best to help him but her innate klutziness did nothing to aide her. She got sidetracked, however, when she was searching the hall closet for a broom to clean up a plate she had dropped. In the corner of the closet, under a fallen stack of old newspapers, was a battered and forgotten Monopoly game. She dug it out and showed it to Uryu.

"Monopoly? I didn't even know we had that. I've never played." That made the decision for her right then and there. She immediately dragged him to the living room and began to teach him how to play. It turned out that long ago the pawns had been lost and replaced with small bird figurines. She chose the swan and Uryu took the colorful Mallard duck. After she had finished explaining the rules to him, she raised her arm, pointed strait at his face and shouted.

"URYU ISHIDA I CHALLENGE YOU TO A FIGHT TO THE DEATH!"

The battle had begun.


	5. FIVE GOLDEN RINNGGSSS!

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!

Olympics!

After A very close race Uryu emerged victorious. Orihime had been winning for a while, but once he got the hang of it the tide changed. She was not a sore loser, quite the opposite in fact. She congratulated him on his natural talent.

"Wow Ishida-kun! You're like the best Monopoly player EVER!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks, I'm glad you found this game it's fun." he finished this sentence with one of his rare smiles. Orihime froze.

"Inoue-san, are you ok?" he questioned, confused by her immobility. Suddenly she exploded.

"OH MY GOSH ISHIDA-KUN! THAT WAS ADORABLE! You should smile more!" she said, lunging over the table to get a closer look at his so called "adorable" smile. He struggled to regain his composure after her outburst and the proximity of their faces was not helping. Now that she was so close he noticed that her clothes were still very sooty. Being the courteous host that he was, he couldn't just let her keep wearing something so filthy. Besides, that cotton blend would hold onto it forever if it didn't get washed soon.

"Inoue-san, if you want I could wash your clothes for you. They might stain if you don't wash them." he knew it was a bold question, but he also knew this outfit was one of her favorites. The shirt was an old one of her brother's. He had overheard her tell Tatsuki the story behind it. It hadn't been hard to hear, when Orihime tells stories she tells them very loudly. She had made it for Sora as a birthday present. They had watched the Olympics together, so she decided to make him a shirt with the Olympic rings on it. She bought a shirt and hand painted them on. Unfortunately, she had only had yellow paint. Sora had loved it anyway. His birthday present now looked like it had been through a house fire. Which it probably had.

"Oh! Thank you, Ishida-kun! I almost forgot all about it!" she said and began to take off her shirt.

"Wait! Um, Inoue-san! Why don't you change in the bathroom?" he said adverting his eyes.

"Oh, d'oh! I made the same mistake again, isn't that silly?" she stuck her tongue and conked herself on the head, 'But what will I change into?"

Uryu thought for a second and then hesitantly offered to lend her some of his clothes. She agreed and while she when to change he went up to his room. He had to search for a while to find something of his that had a chance of fitting of her bust without bursting. Satisfied with the zip-up shirt that might have enough stretch and an old pair of sweats he never wore. He quietly knocked on the bathroom door.

"I have the clothes for you." The door swung open and a smiling Orihime took them and handed her dirty outfit to him. Uryu's brain ceased to function. She had just opened to door for him, rendering the careful use of a changing room pointless. He had just seen her in her underwear. He looked down at the cloth in his hand and noticed the flowery print of her skirt. She had not been wearing pants either. His brain hadn't even made it that far. He colapsed against the wall as he tried to bring his brain back to the realm of coherent thought.

"L-Lace..." Uryu mumbled just before he fainted.


End file.
